February is African-American History Month,
and time to reflect upon the black stars who helped make Mid-South
Wrestling the greatest territory of them all (that’s right, Florida fan,
put that in your juicer and see how it tastes!).

Truly, pro wrestling has much to be proud
of in its treatment of African Americans. Remember the racial rainbow that
shared in the triumph of the first black world’s heavyweight champion
around the time Hammerin’ Hank was chasing down Ruth? How about all the
great black wrestlers who carried and anchored promotions across this
great land of ours? Or the way those wrestlers were treated with dignity,
without having their race pointed to?

OK, so none of that happened. Black
wrestlers in wrestling have historically been portrayed as primitive
savages or ghetto street thugs, all with hard heads and a love for dancing
in public. Most territories also never gave an African American a chance
to headline on a regular basis. Mid-South did.

No one will confuse Mid-South boss Bill
Watts with a card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union
anytime in the near future, but he decided in 1980 to build his company
around a black athlete who had a great build, a unique gift of gab and
off-the-charts charisma.

The man was Sylvester Ritter, whom Watts
turned into The Junkyard Dog.

Watts did not put African Americans on top
of his cards because of any liberal leanings. He knew a sizable portion of
his audience was black, and he also had looked around and saw that other
sports were dominated by black athletes. The fact that black wrestlers
weren’t dominating wrestling cards exposed the business, in his mind.

JYD transcended race and had a veritable
rainbow of fans in Mid-South, from 1980 until his final departure in 1984.

One of JYD’s earliest feuds in Mid-South
was with Ernie Ladd and Ladd’s protege, Bad Bad Leroy Brown.

Ladd, who might be the first black wrestler
to play a strong heel role in the 1960s, was coming off a feud with Ray
Candy, and the two drew what at the time was a record gate for Mid-South
at the Superdome.

The feud did pretty well, but JYD’s next
major battle was the one that made him larger than life to fans in the
Mid-South area.

It all started with a tag title match
involving JYD and Buck Robley against the Freebirds (Terry Gordy and Buddy
Roberts).

One thing seemed clear -- someone was going
home bald.

Freebird
Michael Hayes had come up with a special hair removal cream, and planned
to use it on one of the Birds’ foes that night.

As tended to happen in Mid-South, things
got out of hand, Hayes ended up in the ring, and the cream ended up in JYD’s
eyes.

Soon after, it was announced the Dog had
been permanently blinded and would never wrestle again. The Freebirds were
so remorseful that they walked around in dark glasses, tapping canes.

Hayes soon learned regret, however, as he
found himself booked against the blind Dog in the one match where the
sight advantage would be minimal -- the dog collar match.

After thrashing Hayes, JYD announced his
sight was coming back, and a hero was born.

Over
the next few years, JYD overcame odds time and again. His friends, like
Ted DiBiase, Butch Reed, Mr. Olympia, and Mr. Wrestling II, turned on him
one by one, over the years, but the Dog always came out on top in the end.

In the end, what might have killed the Dog
was the stinging indictment of the man who had created his persona.